I was at this show and Charlotte the night before. This show puts Charlotte way down on my fav list. !st set was very good, esp the TLEO.....but the second set is why I'm writing this. Scarlet-Fire was very good. An extra long one it seemed. Then Playin', when it gets to the jam part Phil seems to be driving the bus on this one. He just carpet bombed the place! Esp. around the 7:30- 9:15 mark. You can feel it in your guts if you turn it up loud enough! (or listen to it w/headphones on) The China Doll well, Jerry gets very strong. Very soulful. During the drums/space, esp space where it sounds like they are using a blow tube or something my wife was freaking out telling me to '...make them stop!' No way, this is the best part of the show. When they went into Throwin I thought ok, another TS. But this one kicks ass! I was expecting something slow from Jerry but we got a GDTRFB outta Throwin! And it was good....we all guessed Sat Night would be next and were right. The encore of Day Job, that song needed to be a 1st set song or set opener like the year before. All in all a fantastic show.

This sounds very much like my nak/ 550 / recording/ that I convinced someone w/ I believe were shotgun mic's/thank you who ever you were/ as the tapes are just killer/nothing like an audience tape!! we were jamming Frisbees in the parking lot/// I have the Charlotte show/ original from the nak.. need to get posted/ my friend Brett F from clt facilitated the mix from my nak.. thanks Archive!!

A lot of folks poo-poo the 80's shows but give this one a listen: it's a wee bit sloppy sure but MAN, it is also very intense!!
Minglewood went on FOREVER w/ Bobby forcing himself to learn the slide just measure after measure in front of us all with Jerry just laying back there helping him learn.
Cassidy was damn near perfect. The space was outrageous.
MMMMMMWWWWAAAAAPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!
When the boys nailed that a-cappella part in China Doll you could hear a pin drop.

The best part is I can hear myself laughing on one of the aud tapes during the intro to TLEO. I was a newbie and got a lot of guff from the veteran tapers to whom I was standing too close for my natural volume level.

What a show!!!

XOXOXOXO
L/S

I think this came from Mike Grace - he recorded it. The source info matches the cassette transfer he provided for me back in the late 90's for a 'tree' I did of this and the Charlotte run. Was on here looking for this source for Charlotte, can't find it.

Can't say I like the mix. Weird balance. If the instruments are loud enough to hear, the vocals are deafening.

83 and 84 Playin in the Band peaked and never quite returned. I like this one almost like 10-15-83 :)

One of my fav Scarlet>Fire, and an all around great show. Really wish there was a SBD for this show.

"." Nonintuitive

Good: Playin' thru the end. China Doll is awesome with a nice wrenching emotion and a cool outtro jam. The Jam out of Space is cool too.

Bad: First set is dull and no rendition really stands out. (This is important when you have listened to 100+ shows...) Scarlet>Fire is also very average which shouldn't happen considering there is a lot of room for variation in that combo.

Ugly: Way too much Brent in this mix.

the boys always played well in Richmond....the coliseum's sound was super bright....this year had a tough parking lot scene...lotsa busts....cops sucked always in Richmond....2nd set through sick space was killer, great S/F, really sweet china doll, incredible everyone but jerry jam outta drums....high times....augusta rocked!

This was a smokin' show. Was living in Richmond at the time, bunch of friends and I on the front row where I took some pretty good pictures. Jerry was large and in charge. The fat man rocked that night. Scarlet/Fire was on of the best I saw that night of all my shows from Spring 1981 to June 1995. There is an appreciation of all Dead Shows!

....and I got on. Show no. 1, first psychedlic experience....freshman in college, great friends, great memories. Thanks archive.org!

why hasn't anyone mention They Love Each Other?
listen to that RIPPIN RUN!

Indeed it was fashionable for a while to trash this show, but a second listen reveals a solid effort with plenty of good stuff going on, especially in the second set.

This show was just...okay. When it comes to Richmond, the year before and both shows the next year were infinately superior to this one.

This one sounds really good. Great audience tape.

the "china jam " in set #2 was actually called "Reagan in china"

I saw the previous show at Charlotte, the first set of which I greatly enjoyed, sound problems withstanding. I missed Richmond, but received tapes for Charlotte and this show from the highly accomplished taper John Cadwell mere dayys later. At the time, the Richmond Show was round, no, even savagely trashed. This disrepute continued even into the Taping Compendium, I believe. I thought it was honking marvelous, and was very encouraged to see the positive reviews in etree some twenty years later. This really has a tremendous character all its own, with a phenomenal Looks Like Rain (that I pull out for special occasions to really impress serious Deadheads) and a Scarlet/Fire that is justly described by the other reviewers here. A marvelously understated space should be studied closely. Obtain and Enjoy!

I was at this show and was glad I made the trip. The first set was fantastic. It may have been some standards songs but the interplay between Brent and Jerry with Phils constant thumping still brings a smile to my face. The second set picked up where the first left off and went way out there. A smoking Scarlet Begonias into Fire on the Mountain. The transition was phenominal. The Playing in the Band was also truly a gem. The drums and space also were more of a jam than filler. The sound of this recording is OK but I wished there was a better one available considering this was easily one of the better shows of the era. I have a great tape of the show that is much more open and dynamic than this which seems to miss some of the high end. Unfortunalely my tape has picked up some hiss over the years.

This is definitely 5th gear 84 dead from the start. The sound is about a 4, but the show is a 5. A great listen 20 years later! This review posted on the 20 yr. anniversary!!! Oh, to have a time machine...

Jerry's voice is shot, but man does he tear into those guitar solos. I recall at this show how he looked so frustrated with his vocal trouble - but when it was his turn to solo, he looked as if to say "but I can still do THIS!". The drums are double-time on this Scarlet, and it just rips. One of the best guitar solos Jerry ever gave this song. The show had a strong energy thoughout, audience and band, and as mentioned elsewhere, Phil and Brent are on fire. The jam out of Space with Phil, Brent & Bob is one of a kind - bouncy and bright. Fans of this era will like this show.
LP

I wasn't at this show, but it's been one of my all time favorites since I first acquired the tapes back in 86. For me, the Scarlet > Fire and Playin alone make this show a "must have". IMHO, the Scarlet > Fire is the 2nd best one I've ever heard, second only to 5/8/77. This Fire is played the way I like it, with TONS of effect on Jerry's guitar. It's loaded with that patented GD "wahwah wah wahwah wah" sound. Bob Weir's guitar playing was also pretty stellar during the Scarlet > Fire. Unfortunately, I held all the Fire's I saw live to the Richmond standard, which was a dumb thing to do. None of the ones I ever saw can compare to this gem. Maybe it's just my ears, but the Fire's I have on tape, and the ones I saw, never seemed to have as much guitar effects as this one has.

Then there's the Playin'. I am partial to 83 and 84 Playin's because I felt some of them got really "out there". 4/21/84 is one of those Playin's and so is this one. I love this version and I love the transition into the China Doll. Jerry's voice isn't 100%, that's for sure, but it's my opinion that his vocals on this night weren't that bad. I've heard "Froggy Jerry" plenty of times... my ears don't qualify this as a Froggy Jerry performance (you ears may differ). The Space jam is pretty focused and is more a jam than a collection of loud noises. Throwing Stones is a spirited version and after all the NFA's I've gotten after TS, I love the GDTRFB into Saturday Night. Day Job is Day Job. 20 years later, I still don't miss Day Job and I still have no desire to ever hear it again.

I had a great copy of this show on cassette for years. A few years ago, a buddy gave me a decent recording on CD. This version will replace my current version. I've always thought NAK 300s did a decent job, and this recording is a pretty good example. THANK YOU Archive.org and thanks to the folks who seeded this show. If Archive.org had been around in 85, 86, 87, I would never have gradjooatid from collij.